Mellow
by Evervescent
Summary: Kagome decides to question Inuyasha about something she has been curious about for a while— what exactly did she smell like? Without a straight answer, she proceeds to ask the rest of her youkai friends in an attempt to understand how youkai, and more importantly, Inuyasha, work.


A/N: So I've had this recent obsession with the question of what Kagome smells like, so I wrote a fic tackling it. Huge shoutout to my friend **Mariah** for giving me the final suggestion as to what Inuyasha thinks Kagome's scent it! It was super cute, and such a good idea ugh I had to stick it in here.

Shoutout to _myself_ for beta-reading this because I'm a loser and probably missed a few typos here and there.

Well then, I hope you enjoy reading this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

* * *

Kagome gagged internally at the stickiness in the air around her. Her bedroom didn't have it's own air conditioner, and the small desktop fan wasn't doing much to ease the heatwave's effect on her. She had tied her hair up high, donned lighter clothes, and meticulously applied deodorant in an attempt to stop sweating so much. Kagome abhorred the sticky feeling, and resigned herself to stop studying and start trying to cool herself down instead.

It was a blazing thirty-three degrees Celcius, and by far one of the hottest days of the summer Kagome had witnessed in years. It made her dizzy, and uncomfortably sweaty.

"Kagome?"

Kagome lifted her head off her desk to glance blearily at the window where Inuyasha sat perched on the sill, looking at her with thinly veiled concern. "Are you okay, Kagome?"

She smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm fine, it's just the heat. It hasn't been this hot in years. I guess I haven't gotten used to it." She wrinkled her nose when she saw he was in his usual outfit. "Aren't you positively _sweltering_ in that thing? I'm getting hotter just looking at you!" She got up from the desk and walked towards him, waving her hands. "Take it off, you'll melt!"

"Eh, I'm fine!" He shied away from her hands. "The heat doesn't get to me much. I think the Fire-Rat has something to do with it, so no chances of me taking this off." He raised an eyebrow at her own outfit, a tank top and skirt. "Guess I can't say the same for you. Wanna borrow it?" he asked, gesturing to his red haori.

Kagome shuddered. "Maybe it keeps you protected from heat, but I'd rather not take my chances with something so heavy in this weather." She fanned herself awkwardly with one hand and turned off the electric fan with the other. "Are you ready to go? I hope it's cooler on the other side of the well than it is over here."

Inuyasha eyed her fan curiously as it stopped moving, but didn't comment on it. "Yeah, sure feels like it is. Grab your stuff and lets go." He watched as she grabbed the yellow backpack and rifled through it, pushing aside books and ramen and shoving in one or two of her schoolbooks. He rolled his eyes at that, but held his tongue in fear of a 'sit'.

He did, however, speak up when Kagome uncapped a strange purple bottle and began rubbing the tube under her arms. A strange smell wafted to his nose — almost like flowers, but not quite. A type pf perfume, no doubt, but it smelled so _wrong_. "Oi, Kagome, what do you think you're doing? Put that stuff away."

Kagome looked at him. "Why? It's deodorant, it keeps me from sweating and smelling bad. Now I won't smell all gross and sweaty." As if to make her point, she continued to apply it.

Inuyasha growled and leapt forward, knocking it out of her hand. "Stop it!"

Kagome stared at him, confused and a little angry. "Inuyasha! What was that for? It's just deodorant, geez, maybe you like sweating, but I sure don't."

"It makes you smell different!" he protested.

"Obviously! People don't naturally smell like," she glanced at the tube on the floor, "wild lavender. And it's so much better than sweat-salts."

"No it isn't." Inuyasha squinted at Kagome. "You smell fine, sweaty or not."

"Really?" She looked surprised. "I don't smell gross? Even with your nose?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "'Course not. You never smell gross." He blushed as he realized what he just said, and looked away from her.

Kagome grinned at him. "Aww, I don't? What _do_ I smell like, then?"

"H-huh? You?" Kagome nodded eagerly at him, and he swallowed. "Uh, you smell nice."

" _Just_ nice? What does that _mean_? What do I smell like? I can't just smell nice, I have to smell like _something_!" She hopped closer to him, leaning up towards his face and batting her eyes. "Tell me, please?"

Inuyasha cringed; he couldn't take a pleading Kagome on, not when she was so close, and her smell was so strong. Here, in her room, where everything smelled like Kagome, and Kagome herself, just inches away from his face.

"J-just _nice_ , okay? S'not like I'm lying, but I don't know what else you wanna hear." He grabbed her backpack off the floor and tossed it lightly at her, making sure she was ready to catch it. "Leave that smelly stuff behind, you don't need it."

Kagome bit her lip and picked it off the floor. "Are you sure?"

Inuyasha nodded firmly, his eyes softening. "You're fine just the way you are, Kagome. If you end up taking and using it, I'll have a harder time tracking your scent if we're separated and it'll probably be hell on Shippo's nose, too, considering he's full youkai. It's for the best."

Kagome shrugged and placed it on her desk. "One less thing for me to worry about, I guess." She swapped it for a _sensu_ lying on her desk, opening it and lightly fanning herself. "I'm ready, let's go!" She turned toward her bedroom door, when she felt a tug on her wrist. "Eep!" As it turned out, Inuyasha wasn't a door person. He leapt out the window, carefully lifting Kagome out of her room and balancing both of them on the awning so he could close the window, before leaping down.

Kagome exhaled happily as the jump created a strong wind, blowing upward towards her face and getting her bangs out of her face. "Ooh, that feels good." Then she turned and smacked Inuyasha lightly on the shoulder. "Warn me next time, that was scary!"

"No it wasn't," he snorted.

"Still, tell me next time!" She pulled away from Inuyasha's arm slowly. "It's too hot, I'm sorry." Looking up at his face, she noted with jealousy that he was barely sweating compared to her. She slicked open the _sensu_ and began to fan herself heavily again, cursing the heaviness of her backpack and the way the thick, warm strap dug into her shoulder.

Just before they reached the well house, Inuyasha quietly banned the pack from her shoulder and swung it onto his own. Kagome smiled at him. "Thank you, Inuyasha, I hope it isn't a bother..."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Never has been, now let's get going."

* * *

Later that evening, when the group was resting in Kaede's hut, Kagome broke out the ramen and extra water bottles, and passed them around. Shippo hopped into her lap, uncaring of the fact that cuddling probably would not make him any cooler in the heat. She smiled and absentmindedly patted his head, and he snuggled into her stomach.

"We missed you, Kagome!" he squeaked, his voice slightly muffled by her top.

Kagome laughed. "I missed you, too, Shippo!" She hugged him tighter. "Hey, Shippo, can ask you a strange question?" Inuyasha was outside, resting up in a tree limb, claiming it was cooler outside. She took advantage of the opportunity to try and satisfy her previous curiosities. "What do I smell like?"

"Hmmph?" He mumbled. He pulled his face away from her shirt. "You smell like... good things."

"Good things? Like what?"

Shippo shrugged and stifled a yawn. "I dunno, you just smell good. Like, ah, if warm had a smell, that would be what you'd smell like."

"Warm?" Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. "It's summer Shippo, everything is warm."

He shook his head. "No, not warm like that, warm like friendly."

"So I smell... friendly?" At Shippo's half-nod, she twisted her mouth, even more confused. "I don't get it."

"You'd need a youkai nose, otherwise it probably wouldn't make sense. Humans can't smell stuff like that." With another yawn, Shippo began to drift off to sleep, his head falling against her stomach lazily, and his breaths slowing down.

Kagome moaned and slumped back against the wall. "I still don't get it..."

* * *

Kagome stopped short as a red-clad arm shot out in front of her, keeping herself from ramming into it. Irritated from the heat, she glared up at Inuyasha before she felt the same thing he did.

"Aw, shit," he groaned as, in the horizon, a whirlwind was fast approaching. Kagome's instincts went off — two jewel shards coming fast equaled Koga. Sure enough, the whirlwind disappeared, and in it's place stood Koga, hands on his hips, grinning cockily at Inuyasha and Kagome, completely ignoring Miroku and Sango behind them.

"Yo," he greeted, nonchalantly sweeping his gaze straight over Inuyasha and settling on Kagome. He grabbed her hands, as he always did, and Kagome blushed, a little upset that while her hands were rather sweaty, his were not. What was it with youkai and their immunity to heat? "How have you been, lovely Kagome?"

"Aha," she laughed nervously, glancing at a fuming Inuyasha out of the side of her eye. "Good?"

"Get your hands off of her, you mangy wolf!" He growled and raised a claws hand high, aiming towards Koga. Releasing Kagome's hands, he hopped backwards, easily jumping away from Inuyasha's attack.

"Don't tell me what to do with my woman, dog-shit!" He soared over Inuyasha's head and landed deftly beside Kagome, pulling her to his side with an arm around her shoulders. The sun was already beating down hard that day, and Koga's arm across her shoulder's most certainly was _not_ cooling her down. She angrily remembered that, upon Inuyasha's request, she'd left her deodorant at home.

But didn't he also say that she smelled better without it?

"Hey, Koga?"

"Yes?"

"What do I smell like?"

"Don't ask him!" Inuyasha roared, unsheathing Tetsusaiga and running full speed towards them.

"Sit!"

Inuyasha smashed face-first into the ground, a now un-transformed Tetsusaiga resting by his side, and his outstretched hands twitching on the ground. "Kagome..." he ground out. She ignored him and looked up at Koga expectantly.

"Huh?" Koga blinked dumbly at her, obviously not expecting the question. "You? You smell great."

"Okay, but what does that _mean_?"

"What do you mean, what does that mean?" Koga raised an eyebrow. "It means you smell _good_."

"Define good."

Koga glanced over at Inuyasha. "Has mutt-face been telling you that you smell off or something? 'Cause you sure don't." As if to prove his point, he pulled her closer and buried his nose in her hair. Unsure of what to do, she stood there awkwardly. "I dunno, I guess you smell... sweet? Sunny?"

" _Sunny_?"

Koga scratched his head. "I can't explain it, but rest assured, Kagome, you're the most intoxicating thing I've ever—"

"Oh, can it, wolfie!" The next thing Kagome knew, she was being yanked out of Koga's arms and behind Inuyasha, who was now brandishing his Tetsusaiga. "Don't you touch Kagome like that ever again!"

"Don't tell me what to do, dog shit!"

Kagome's eye twitched.

* * *

"So, Kagome, what's all this about?" Sango asked a she eased herself into the hot spring. The nights were colder, and it was only then when Kagome would allow herself to bathe in such a hot body of water.

Kagome sighed. "I brought it up the other day, asking Inuyasha what I smelled like. He just said it was _good_. What does that _mean_ , Sango? _What_ is good? Do I smell like flowers? Flowers are good. Do I smell like candy? Candy is good, too!" She splashed the water with her hand a little. "Then I asked Shippo, and he said I just smelled warm, like friendly warm, not warm like fire. And now Koga thinks I smell sweet and sunny? Can you smell the sun, Sango?"

Sango laughed. "I can't, but if you think about it, those _are_ all good things. They're not tangible things either, really." She shrugged. "Youkai are different than us, Kagome, you have to remember. They can smell and see and sense things we can only dream of. Maybe that's why it's odd trying to explain to a human without those senses what they smell like."

"Shippo said the same thing, sort of," Kagome admitted. "I guess I've just been really curious about it, and I wish I could understand it."

"Youkai are quite complex, Kagome, there's not much sense in trying to understand how everything works for them." Sango closed her eyes and relaxed, sinking deeper into the hot springs.

"Yeah..." Kagome mindlessly agreed, going down with her friend until her nose rested on the surface of the water.

* * *

"Shippo?" Kagome yawned the next morning. "Where are Inuyasha and Miroku?"

"They went to go bathe," he answered between mouthfuls of his breakfast. "They were going to last night, but Sango yelled at them and then they changed their minds." He slurped up the contents of his bowl and wiped his mouth. "They left a few minutes ago, so they won't be back soon."

"Oh, okay." She sat up and stretched before climbing out of her sleeping bag and running her hands through her hair.

"Inuyasha said he smelled Sesshomaru around here. You should probably stay close, Kagome, Sango's still asleep."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm not scared of Sesshomaru, and I can fight just fine on my own." Still stretching, she stopped suddenly, her eyes lighting up. "Shippo? Did Inuyasha say where Sesshomaru was?"

"Uh..." Shippo pointed off down a path to his left. "Over there, but Kagome, I don't think it's a good idea to —"

"Shh, don't tell Inuyasha, okay? I'll be right back! Stay here!" With that, she quickly rubbed the sleep crust out of her eyes and ran off, down in the direction that Shippo had pointed her towards.

Her loafers, worn because she favored comfort over how warm it was outside, crunched the fallen leaves and flowers on the path as she ran as fast as she could. It wasn't long before she found Rin, the little girl in the bright kimono, sitting alongside Jaken and Ah-Un, already awake and humming, playing with a circle of flowers in her hands. The other two, however, were still fast asleep.

"Rin?" Rin looked up from her craft, smiling when she saw Kagome.

"Hello, Kagome! Would you like some flowers?" Kagome smiled and knelt down, accepting them with a smile.

"Thank you, Rin. Where is Lord Sesshomaru? Did he leave?" A feeling of despair began to wash over her.

"No. He went over there, I think he wanted to look at the river." She twisted and pointed behind her, past some trees where Kagome could hear the water running.

"Thank you!" She waved to Rin, who cheerfully returned the gesture, before heading off in search of the great demon.

He was right where Rin said he'd be, gazing out over the water seemingly deep in thought and unaware of her presence. Suddenly, she felt rather silly, seeking him out when he was alone and obviously wanting to stay alone, just to ask a question that had no real benefit if it was answered. She gnawed on her lip and was about to turn and leave when he tilted his head the slightest bit to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What do you want?"

With an inward she realized that he, too, was not sweating in the least bit, and suddenly felt very unpresentable in comparison to him.

She laughed nervously. "Can I ask you a... strange question?"

He continued to glare at the horizon.

"...What do I smell like?"

For the slightest of seconds, he looked almost annoyed, before he rolled his back again to stare at her in some semblance of anger. "Ask the half-breed."

"Don't call him that. And I did, and it wasn't a real answer." When he continued to stand still, she plowed ahead. "Can you at least tell me how scents work, since you're a youkai? Apparently humans don't smell like tangible things, which is really confusing, and all I've been hearing is that I smell _good_ , and that's fantastic, but what does it _mean_?"

He didn't look at her, but he did speak. "It is not something humans can understand." Sesshomaru's head _turned_ , not tilted, to her this time, and his eyes darkened frighteningly. "Now leave."

Kagome squeaked and complied, tossing out a hasty "thank you" before turning on her heel and running out of the grove as fast as she could.

* * *

The end of the day approached fast, and the group had stopped to set up camp for the night. Shippo, already exhausted, had fallen asleep quickly on top of Kagome's backpack. Miroku had excused himself to meditate beyond the trees, and Sango had gone off to bathe. Upon asking Kagome to join her, the younger girl refused and sat by herself, leaning against the trunk of a large tree with her knees drawn up to her face.

Her arms crossed over her knees, and she buried her nose in the crook of her elbow, inhaling as discreetly as she could. She smelled like... nothing. Nothing she could pick up, anyways. Not even sweat, or like her lotion, just like air— bland and scentless.

Kagome sighed and shifted her head so it rested on it's side, staring off in front of her at the tree across the clearing. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Shippo snoozing, and she knew Inuyasha was resting in the tree right above her, certainly still awake since Kagome was virtually alone.

Suddenly, she heard the leaves rustling, and the almost inaudible sound of Inuyasha's feet hitting the ground beside her. She flinched at the suddenness, but didn't move aside from that. Inuyasha moved into a seated position beside her, and rested his sword against his shoulder.

"...You can't smell yourself, Kagome," he said, almost amusedly. "You're human."

Kagome blushed. Had he seen her before?

"Besides, you probably smell a little different to every youkai." He wouldn't look her in the eyes.

"Well, what do I smell like to _you_ , then, Inuyasha? That's what I want to know."

He sighed, but shifted almost imperceptibly closer, and leaned his head so his face rested in her hair.

"They were all right, you know, Koga and Shippo. You do smell warm, and sweet, _and_ like sunshine." Kagome felt her cheeks grow warm, but stayed as still as possible.

"But it's more than that. It's like... it's like if happiness had a smell. You always smell happy. And softness. You smell soft, and happy, and _strong_." His nose dug deeper into her hair. "It's so comforting..."

Kagome's eyes widened, and she swallowed. Her smell was comforting to him? Sighing, she relaxed against him and turned her body towards him as best as she could. In response, he unconsciously wrapped an arm around her and leaned in.

"Is that why you're always sitting on my bed back at home? Because it smells like me?" She laughed.

"...Yeah."

She smiled and snuggled closer. "Thank you, Inuyasha, for telling me. I'll try not to wear that deodorant stuff again. It means a lot, that you'd tell me that."

He scoffed. "Of course I was gonna tell ya, it's just that... it's hard to describe, you know? It's so much easier to just tell you that you smell good."

"Still, thank you." She yawned, and slumped against him.

"Are you tired?" He shifted her so her head fell onto his shoulder. "You should sleep."

"Mm," she yawned. "Yeah, I guess so." With that, she slowly drifted to sleep, content to be with him.

After silently contemplating with himself whether he should move her or leave her, he decided to stay, leaning back to get more comfortable himself. "Screw it," he murmured. "She smells too damn good."

* * *

A/N: Wow I used a lot of italics in this one.

In case you're curious, the _sensu_ I mentioned twice in the beginning is a paper folding hand-fan.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!


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